Roy Brown via Facebook

Around 9:50 p.m. last Wednesday in Hunstville, Alabama, 57-year-old Roy Brown and his 32-year-old son, Jay, were both working at the same IHOP franchise location. They’d served countless customers before – especially Roy, who loved working in the restaurant industry and had even met his wife of 34 years while they were both working at IHOP. This time, though, an everyday interaction took an unforgettable, tragic turn.

25-year-old Roderick Turner walked into the IHOP to pick up a to-go order. Unbeknownst to Roy and Jay, Turner had been charged three times before with assault involving a firearm – but because his previous victims were unwilling to come forward to testify, he was never convicted.

As people with patterns of violence are wont to do, Turner started out acting relatively normal. However, instead of picking up his order and leaving, he became loud and disruptive, resulting in a fast-escalating dispute with Roy and Jay over the food service. He then walked out of the restaurant, retrieved a handgun from his car, came back in and started shooting, hitting both Jay and his father. As quickly as he could, Jay drew his concealed handgun and returned fire. Turner died at the scene.

Jay and his dad were both rushed to the hospital with gunshot wounds, but only Jay pulled through.

“He was the fun uncle… [and he] loved IHOP,” said Roy’s niece, Kimberly Lang, after Roy’s death. “You couldn’t ask for a better person to serve you.”

This isn’t the first loss her family has endured in the past year, and it’s taught them all some difficult lessons. “Don’t let your loved ones walk out that door without saying that you love them,” Kimberly said. “Because you don’t know when you are going to see them.”

Employees, too, are coming together to remember how much they loved working with Roy.

“I had run out of gas in the parking lot of taco bell,” said one former employee who worked for Roy. “Out of kindness, and I think it was his very last, he gave me $10 to put in my gas tank.”

This is a good, if painful, reminder that if you are the victim or witness of an assault, you could prevent senseless suffering by stepping forward to help convict the assailant.

27 COMMENTS

  1. As a society we are seeing life cheapened day by day. I can’t imagine how someone could shoot people because he didn’t think he was served properly.

    I’m glad Turner is dead because he caused too much pain around him.

    • The recidivism rate of dead perps is zero. But realistically, if any of the previous victims had responded immediately with ballistic remediation, this perp would have been in jail even if he had only been wounded.

      • “The recidivism rate of dead perps is zero.”

        Which is why I am drawn to the idea of automatic death penalty for any and all violent felonies. But because there are significant problems with that concept (as in the potential more innocents will be killed because dead witnesses/victims do not testify), the idea of mandatory organ donor status is becoming more attractive. Arms, legs, internals, you name it. Kinda would make a fun lottery, and stress criminals with the potential that, without notice of any kind, one moment they are whole, the next they are strapped to a surgical table, being prepped for donation.

    • Mr Turner obviously had an over-inflated sense of entitlement and any perceived slight had to be met with overwhelming force.

      But it sounds like he was working himself up to such a confrontation. As he had several previous incidents, he thought he could bully and bluster to get his own way while cowing onlookers into silence with dire threats.

  2. That’s why all of America should have a OPEN CARRY LAW… states with open carry do not have these kinds of problems, their called POLITE states,, for a reason…

    • Anything can happen, any place, any time. It depends on whose path you cross. This happened in Alabama, which is an open carry state.

    • America does have an open carry law: It’s called the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Regrettably, America also has a reluctance to hold its government accountable for its infringements on aforementioned law.

  3. So sorry about Ray.. glad his son was able to step forward, care nothing for the dead guy. Typical of the stupid gangster shit attitude prevalent among some peoples…
    I wonder if IHop has one of those stupid is as stupid does policies preventing employees from carrying?

  4. I am glad to see that the son Jay (Brown?) was able to neutralize the attacker EVEN AFTER THE ATTACKER SHOT HIM.

    This serves as a reminder that you are not out of the fight until you are physically unable to move.

  5. “you could prevent senseless suffering by stepping forward to help convict the assailant.”
    This is the same as the old wisdom of:
    “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”
    Perhaps it should be; “for OTHERWISE good people to do nothing.”

  6. It’s really too bad father and son didn’t keep an eye on the perp/notice him quicker when he returned.

    Unfortunately, no work would get done at restaurants (and other service businesses) if employees went into Defcon 2 every time a disgruntled customer exited the place for fear of him returning with a gun and intent to kill.

    • Wait.

      The local news said there was a “physical altercation” which to me indicates pushing or possibly even punching or throwing things.

      This article by an unknown “Staff Writer” totally omits what the news article does omit: “Police said a verbal altercation *turned physical* with an employee of the restaurant.”

      If that is true, that’s another ballgame and given the situation, the son should have been at Defcon 1 for at least the rest of that day.

      Why can’t we get critical basic facts presented here instead of a STAFF WRITER using his own words like “loud and disruptive” and “fast escalating dispute”. The police used the phrase PHYSICAL ALTERCATION in the linked article!!!!!!!

      If it got physical then perhaps the son was too restrained and should have shot be bastard initially- or as I said, been on Defcon 1 for the rest of the day/week/forever.

  7. This is what the anti-police, anti-law idiots in this comment section refuse to accept: We live in a nation of laws, and if those laws are not enforced, it only gives criminals the upper hand, and law abiding citizens suffer. This piece of human feces should have been dead or in prison for the rest of his adult life, but instead, he is out and about, costing other people their lives. Yes, the self defender survived, but not before his own father was mortally wounded, and he was shot as well. Next time some of you retards want to nickel and dime a police officer over “running license plates without probable cause” (seriously) or talk about how racist the system is, maybe you be thankful that there are some people out there looking to take people like this off of the streets.

    Nearly all of the negative BS that some of you cling to about the racist system and racist police officers is debunked nearly every time a self-defense or police-related shooting article is posted on this site. I’m sure there is a racist cop or two out there somewhere, or a judge who allows unlawful factors to weigh in his decision making, but it is pretty clear that wherever they are, they are the VAST minority in a giant system and have very little impact on the average person.

    • I’m not staring s*** but doesn’t the “… there are some people out there looking to take people like this off of the streets.” phase typically last about a month for idealistic rookie cops? I mean it’s a catch and release system. Who is naive enough believe the “helping take people like this off the streets” mantra after more than maybe 30 days on the job?

      I know Officer Christoper Dorner sure shed his idealistic attitude during his short time at the LAPD.

      https://www.bestgore.com/murder/manifesto-former-lapd-officer-christopher-jordan-dorner/

      • Dorner was a nut job. He murdered a woman because she was related to a lapd captain he had a grudge against. He murdered her fiancee cause he was there. Using him as an example of anything but a complete whack job is wrong.

        It’s the same as saying adam lanza is a typical ar15 owner. just wrong.

        • I didn’t post his manifesto because I approved of it or his actions (parts I do and parts I don’t).

          I posted it for educational purposes.

          If he made the vile LAPD shit itself for a few weeks he is certainly a hero at least in that sense.

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